Hydrofluorocarbon Limitation Bill launched in the UK
[ added 11 March, 2010 ]
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British Member of Parliament (MP) Clive Efford launched a bill under the ten-minute rule motion on 9 March 2010 calling for a phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in supermarket refrigeration systems. Phasing out HFCs in supermarkets has the potential to save over 175 million tones of CO2e between now and 2050.
British Labour MP Clive Efford has got the HFC phase-out debate moving in the UK since last year, when he put forward a similar bill in an attempt to convince the UK government to ban HFCs in large supermarkets. “It is time to act”
At the first reading of the new 'Hydrofluorocarbon Limitation Bill' in the House of Commons on 9 March 2010, Efford advocated that now is the time to act on the issue, for three main reasons:
- HFCs are extremely harmful in terms of global warming and present a growing proportion of our emissions
- There is little to suggest that current EU and UK regulations in this field has encouraged large retailers to speed up the process of eradicating the use of HFCs in their stores. Only 2% sites in the UK are HFC-free.
- There is nothing in the EU regulation to prevent the UK government from regulating in this area.
“In 2005, stationary refrigeration units were the biggest source of f-gas emissions in the UK and within that total supermarkets account for over half the emissions”, Efford maintained. “Phasing out HFCs in supermarkets has the potential to save over 175 million tones of CO2e between now and 2050”, he added.
In that respect, prompt action now to remove HFCs has the attraction of “buying much needed time for other greenhouse gas mitigating measures to take effect”.
Why legislation is needed?
Following the presentation of the Bill by Efford, Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik took the floor to address the question “Why do we need this piece of legislation in the first place?”. He noted that supermarkets “feel uncompelled to act without the threat of legislation” and that “reality is far from public relation commitments”. He also expressed the wish that supermarkets come forward with formal statements regarding concrete HFC phase-out dates.
10% of MPs already support action in the area
Already in February 2010, Efford tabled Early Day Motion (EDM) 768 to raise awareness on the issue within the House of Commons. EDM 768 notes that “HFCs, used in supermarket refrigeration units, account for one third of the carbon footprint of most supermarkets” and “calls on the Government to promote the use of HFC-free refrigeration and to introduce legislation to phase out HFCs in large supermarkets as a matter of urgency”.
Early Day Motions serve mainly as a means of demonstrating the extent of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view. To date, 67 out of 646 MPs support the EDM for phasing out HFCs in large supermarkets.
UK readers take action!
In order to get as much support for the EDM as possible all MPs need to sign it and they are in turn more likely to do so if they are asked by their constituents. To urge your MP to support the phase-out of HFCs in supermarkets:
- Go to www.writetothem.com and enter your postcode
- Under the ‘Your member of Parliament’ heading in the 3rd column, click on the name of your MP
- Fill out your details and urge them to support EDM 768 “HYDROFLUOROCARBONS AND SUPERMARKET REFRIGERATION”
A second reading of the “Hydrofluorocarbon Limitation Bill” is planned for Friday 30 April 2010.
You can watch the BBC video with the ten minute rule motion by clicking here.
